Cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure

ABSTRACT

A method and system for providing a cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure are described. In one embodiment, a method for providing a cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure includes receiving a notification indicating an availability for providing mobile charging to electric personal transport devices. Each notification includes an identification of an electrified vehicle to provide the mobile charging and a location of the electrified vehicle. The method includes receiving a request for mobile charging from a user and determining a candidate electrified vehicle that is available to provide mobile charging to the user. The method also includes providing the location of the candidate electrified vehicle to the user to provide mobile charging at the location to an electric personal transport device associated with the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/406,618, filed on May 8, 2019 and titled “Cooperative AutomotiveMobile Charging Infrastructure,” the disclosures of which application isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The embodiments relate generally to electrified vehicles, and inparticular to a method and system for providing a cooperative automotivemobile charging infrastructure.

As electrified vehicles become more common, the electric charginginfrastructure to support charging of these electrified vehicles is alsogrowing and expanding. In addition to these electrified vehicles, inmany areas, small, battery-powered electric transportation devices, suchas electric scooters and electric bicycles, are also becomingincreasingly common. These small electric transportation devices mayallow users to quickly move about within a city or other areas. Theexisting electric charging infrastructure, however, may not be availableto owners or users of small electric transportation devices to chargethese devices. As a result, a significant expenditure of resources maybe needed to gather these electric transportation devices from differentparts of the city for charging so that they are ready and available forother users.

SUMMARY

The techniques of the present embodiments described herein provide amethod and system for providing a cooperative automotive mobile charginginfrastructure that allows owners or users of electrified vehicles toprovide charging to electric personal transport devices.

In one aspect, a method for providing a cooperative automotive mobilecharging infrastructure is provided, the method including: receiving anotification indicating an availability for providing mobile charging toelectric personal transport devices, wherein each notification has atleast an identification of an electrified vehicle to provide the mobilecharging and a location of the electrified vehicle; receiving a requestfor mobile charging from a user; determining, for each request, acandidate electrified vehicle that is available to provide mobilecharging to the user; and providing the location of the candidateelectrified vehicle to the user, wherein the candidate electrifiedvehicle provides mobile charging at the location to an electric personaltransport device associated with the user.

In another aspect, a system for providing a cooperative automotivemobile charging infrastructure is provided, the system including: amobile charging service provider; at least one electrified vehicle; andat least one electric personal transport devices associated with one ormore users; wherein the mobile charging service provider is configuredto: receive a notification indicating an availability for providingmobile charging to electric personal transport devices, wherein thenotification includes at least an identification of an electrifiedvehicle to provide the mobile charging and a location of the electrifiedvehicle; receive a request for mobile charging from at least one of theone or more users; determine, for each request, a candidate electrifiedvehicle that is available to provide mobile charging to a user of theone or more users; and provide the location of the candidate electrifiedvehicle to the user, wherein the candidate electrified vehicle providesmobile charging at the location to an electric personal transport deviceassociated with the user.

In another aspect, an electrified vehicle for providing mobile chargingto an electric personal transport device is provided, the electrifiedvehicle including: at least one auxiliary charging port in communicationwith a battery or electrical system of the electrified vehicle; at leastone charging cable that connects to the at least one auxiliary chargingport; and wherein the electrified vehicle provides mobile charging to anelectric personal transport device at a stationary location byconnecting the at least one charging cable to the at least one auxiliarycharging port of the electrified vehicle to a charging port of theelectric personal transport device.

Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the exemplaryembodiments will be, or will become, apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art upon examination of the following figures and detaileddescription. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods,features and advantages be included within this description and thissummary, be within the scope and protected by the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The exemplary embodiments may be better understood with reference to thefollowing drawings and description. The components in the figures arenot necessarily to scale. Moreover, in the figures, like referencenumerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an example embodiment of a system forproviding a cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an example embodiment of user interfacesfor a cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure;

FIG. 3 is a representative view of an electric personal transport devicerequesting a charge from a cooperative automotive mobile charginginfrastructure;

FIG. 4 is a representative view of an example embodiment of a method forproviding a cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of an example embodiment of an electrifiedvehicle providing mobile charging to an electric personal transportdevice;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an alternate embodiment of an electrifiedvehicle providing mobile charging to a plurality of electric personaltransport devices;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an example embodiment of an incentiveprovided to a user of a cooperative automotive mobile charginginfrastructure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example embodiment of a method for providinga cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The example embodiments described herein provide a method and system forproviding a cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure. Thetechniques described herein allow owners or users of electrifiedvehicles to provide mobile charging to electric personal transportdevices. Coordination of the mobile charging between the owners/users ofthe electrified vehicles and the owners/users of the electric personaltransport devices is provided by a mobile charging service provider.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system 100for providing a cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure.In an example embodiment, system 100 may include a mobile chargingservice provider 110, a plurality of electrified vehicles 120, and aplurality of electric personal transport devices 130. Mobile chargingservice provider 110 may include hardware, software, and components thatare configured to communicate with owners or users of plurality ofelectrified vehicles 120 and owners or users of plurality of electricpersonal transport devices 130.

In an example embodiment, owners or users of plurality of electrifiedvehicles 120 and/or plurality of electric personal transport devices 130may elect to participate in the cooperative automotive mobile charginginfrastructure. For example, mobile charging service provider 110 mayprovide support for the cooperative automotive mobile charginginfrastructure by signing up users who are interested in offering theirelectrified vehicles to provide mobile charging, users who areinterested in obtaining mobile charging for their electric personaltransport devices, or users who may participate as both.

In this embodiment, mobile charging service provider 110 may include aprocessor 112 that is in communication with at least a user interface114, a communication interface 116, and a database 118. In someembodiments, mobile charging service provider 110 may include othercomponents not shown in FIG. 1 to facilitate receiving notifications orrequests from users, determining locations or areas associated withusers of the mobile charging infrastructure, and providing informationto the users to allow owners or users of electrified vehicles to providemobile charging to electric personal transport devices according to theexample embodiments described herein.

In some embodiments, user interface 114 may be configured to allow oneor more owners or users of plurality of electrified vehicles 120 and/orplurality of electric personal transport devices 130 to interact withmobile charging service provider 110. For example, in one embodiment,user interface 114 may interact with owners or users of plurality ofelectrified vehicles 120 and/or plurality of electric personal transportdevices 130 through an application (e.g., mobile app) or website. Usersof the mobile charging infrastructure may sign up with mobile chargingservice provider 110 through user interface 114. In some embodiments,user interface 114 may interact with the one or more users of the mobilecharging infrastructure via a connection with a wired or wirelesstelecommunication network available through communication interface 116.

Communication interface 116 may be configured to allow mobile chargingservice provider 110 to communicate with one or more vehicles ofplurality of electrified vehicles 120, as well as to permit mobilecharging service provider 110 to send and/or receive messages or alertsto users of the cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure.For example, in one embodiment, communication interface 116 may be awireless transceiver that transmits and/or receives signals (e.g.,commands, messages, information, etc.) to and/or from one or morevehicles of plurality of electrified vehicles 120 or users of pluralityof electrified vehicles 120 and/or plurality of electric personaltransport devices 130.

In this embodiment, plurality of electrified vehicles 120 may include afirst electrified vehicle 122, a second electrified vehicle 124, and athird electrified vehicle 126, and plurality of electric personaltransport devices 130 includes a first electric personal transportdevice 132, a second electric personal transport device 134, and a thirdelectric personal transport device 136. Electrified vehicles may includean electric vehicle powered by a battery or fuel cell (i.e., a batteryelectric vehicle (BEV) or fuel cell vehicle (FCV)) as well as a hybridelectric vehicle powered by an electric motor, generator, or battery inaddition to an internal combustion engine (i.e., a hybrid electricvehicle (HEV) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV)). Additionally,electric personal transport devices may include any battery-poweredpersonal transportation device, including, but not limited to: electricscooters, electric bicycles or e-bikes, electric-assisted mopeds,electric skateboards, electric unicycles, or other smallelectric-powered mobility transporters.

FIG. 1 illustrates three electrified vehicles and three electricpersonal transport devices for the purpose of explanation, however, itshould be understood that the cooperative automotive mobile charginginfrastructure according to the present embodiments may include anynumber of electrified vehicles and/or electric personal transportdevices.

In some embodiments, database 118 may include information associatedwith plurality of electrified vehicles 120 and plurality of electricpersonal transport devices 130. For example, database 118 may storeinformation associated with the identities and/or locations of one ormore of plurality of electrified vehicles 120, including firstelectrified vehicle 122, second electrified vehicle 124, and/or thirdelectrified vehicle 126, and locations of one or more of plurality ofelectric personal transport devices 130, including first electricpersonal transport device 132, second electric personal transport device134, and/or third electric personal transport device 136.

Database 118 may also include information about owners or users ofplurality of electrified vehicles 120 and/or owners or users ofplurality of electric personal transport devices 130. For example,database 118 may store account information, usernames or otheridentification, preferences, electrified vehicles or electric personaltransport devices associated with a particular user, as well as anyincentives, credits, or promotions available to users of the cooperativeautomotive mobile charging infrastructure. Database 118 may also includeother information that may be used by mobile charging service provider110.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an example embodiment of user interfaces forusers of the cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure isshown. As described above, in some embodiments, a user (e.g., one ormore owners or users of plurality of electrified vehicles 120 and/orplurality of electric personal transport devices 130) may interact withuser interface 114 at mobile charging service provider 110, which may bea mobile app or website. In an example embodiment, a first userinterface 200 is provided for owners or users of plurality ofelectrified vehicles 120 to interact with mobile charging serviceprovider 110 and a second user interface 210 is provided for owners orusers of plurality of electric personal transport devices 130 tointeract with mobile charging service provider 110. That is, first userinterface 200 and second user interface 210 may be different dependingon whether the user is offering mobile charging or is requesting mobilecharging.

In an example embodiment, first user interface 200 may be provided on afirst user-side (e.g., owners or users of plurality of electrifiedvehicles 120) to allow the user to provide information to user interface114 of mobile charging service provider 110. For example, first userinterface 200 may be provided through a user's mobile telephone, tablet,computer, in-vehicle system, or other device to allow the user to enterrelevant information associated with a notification to mobile chargingservice provider 110 indicating an availability to provide mobilecharging to electric personal transport device.

In this embodiment, first user interface 200 may include a number offields to obtain information from the user about the notificationindicating an availability to provide mobile charging. For example, asshown in FIG. 2, first user interface 200 may include a vehicle ID field202 for information associated with an identification of the user'selectrified vehicle that is to provide the mobile charging. For example,information that may be provided in vehicle ID field 202 may include alicense plate number, a vehicle identification number (VIN), or otheridentifier to uniquely distinguish the user's electrified vehicle.

First user interface 200 may also include a location field 204 forinformation associated with a stationary location of the user'selectrified vehicle that is to provide the mobile charging. For example,information that may be provided in location field 204 may include astreet address or intersection, global positioning system (GPS)coordinates, or other information associated with a parking space, acharging station, or a roadside area that may assist with finding thelocation of the user's electrified vehicle. First user interface 200 mayalso include a duration field 206 for information associated with a timeperiod or duration that the user's electrified vehicle is available atthat location to provide mobile charging. For example, in someembodiments, a user may only be at a given location for a limited amountof time (e.g., 30 minutes, an hour, two hours, etc.) and, therefore, theuser's electrified vehicle is only available to provide mobile chargingfor a limited duration. In other embodiments, appointments or otherinformation from a user's calendar, for example, a calendar on the samedevice as first user interface 200, may be used to automaticallydetermine a time period or duration.

In an example embodiment, second user interface 210 may be provided on asecond user-side (e.g., owners or users of plurality of electricpersonal transport devices 130) to allow the user to provide informationto user interface 114 of mobile charging service provider 110. Forexample, second user interface 210 may be provided through a user'smobile telephone, tablet, computer, or other device to allow the user toenter relevant information associated with a request to mobile chargingservice provider 110 for mobile charging of the user's electric personaltransport device.

In this embodiment, second user interface 210 may include a number offields to obtain information from the user about the request for mobilecharging. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, second user interface 210 mayinclude a user ID field 212 for information associated with anidentification of the user that is requesting mobile charging. Forexample, information that may be provided in user ID field 212 mayinclude a username, membership number or ID, or other identifier touniquely distinguish the requesting user.

Second user interface 210 may also include a location field 214 forinformation associated with a location of the user's request for mobilecharging. For example, information that may be provided in locationfield 214 may include a street address or intersection, GPS coordinates,a zip code, city and state, distance or proximity to the user's currentlocation, or other information that may assist with finding an availableelectrified vehicle for mobile charging. Second user interface 210 mayalso include a duration field 216 for information associated with a timeperiod or duration for which the user is requesting mobile charging tobe available. For example, in some embodiments, a user may requestmobile charging for different amounts of time or time periods (e.g., 30minutes, an hour, two hours, etc.) to assist with finding suitableelectrified vehicles that are available to provide mobile charging forthe requested amount of time.

Each field in first user interface 200 and/or second user interface 210may include a corresponding data entry area so that the user may enterthe requested information. In some embodiments, the data entry area maybe in the form of a drop down menu populated with predefined selectionsor other optional selection mechanism. Once the user has provided theinformation requested in fields 202, 204, 206 via first user interface200 or fields 212, 214, 216 via second user interface 210, theinformation may be provided to mobile charging service provider 110. Forexample, as described above, mobile charging service provider 110 mayreceive the notification or request sent by users from first userinterface 200 and/or second user interface 210 via user interface 114.Additionally, first user interface 200 and/or second user interface 210may include other fields for other information that the user provides tomobile charging service provider 110 about the notification or request.

Based on the information received at mobile charging service provider110 from users of plurality of electrified vehicles 120 and/or pluralityof electric personal transport devices 130, mobile charging serviceprovider 110 may determine at least one candidate electrified vehiclethat is available to provide mobile charging to a user of an electricpersonal transport device to fulfil that user's request for mobilecharging. Referring now to FIG. 3, an example embodiment of an electricpersonal transport device 300 requesting a charge from a cooperativeautomotive mobile charging infrastructure is illustrated.

As shown in FIG. 3, a user of electric personal transport device 300 maysend a request to mobile charging service provider 110 indicating thatthe user is looking for mobile charging within a predetermined distance302 of the user's current location. In this embodiment, there are twocandidate electrified vehicles within the same general vicinity or areaas electric personal transport device 300 that are within thepredetermined distance 302, including a first candidate electrifiedvehicle 304 and a second candidate electrified vehicle 306. It should beunderstood that two candidate electrified vehicles are shown in FIG. 3,but any number of candidate electrified vehicles may be within apredetermined distance from the user. In some embodiments, a user mayselect the predetermined distance 302 so as to increase or decrease thenumber of candidate electrified vehicles that are returned to the useras being available.

Based on the request from the user of electric personal transport device300, mobile charging service provider 110 may provide the location ofone or more of the candidate electrified vehicles that fulfil the user'srequest for mobile charging. As shown in FIG. 3, mobile charging serviceprovider 110 may provide the location of either or both of firstcandidate electrified vehicle 304 and/or second candidate electrifiedvehicle 306 to the user of electric personal transport device 300 inresponse to the request for mobile charging.

For example, mobile charging service provider 110 may provide thelocation of first candidate electrified vehicle 304 to the user ofelectric personal transport device 300 as being parked in a parkingspace at the intersection of 2^(nd) Street 308 and Parkview Avenue 310.In some embodiments, mobile charging service provider 110 may alsoprovide identifying information to the user of electric personaltransport device 300 to assist the user with identifying first candidateelectrified vehicle 304 that is to provide the mobile charging toelectric personal transport device 300. For example, the identifyinginformation may be any of the information provided by the user of firstcandidate electrified vehicle 304 in vehicle ID field 202 of first userinterface 200.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an example embodiment of a method for providinga cooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure is illustrated.In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the user of electric personaltransport device 300 has requested mobile charging from mobile chargingservice provider 110 and has been provided with the location of firstcandidate electrified vehicle 304 that is available to provide mobilecharging. The user of electric personal transport device 300 hastraveled to the provided location (e.g., a parking space at theintersection of 2^(nd) Street 308 and Parkview Avenue 310) where firstcandidate electrified vehicle 304 is currently located.

In this embodiment, first candidate electrified vehicle 304 is shownproviding mobile charging to electric personal transport device 300. Forexample, charging may be provided by first candidate electrified vehicle304 to electric personal transport device 300 via cable that connectsthe electrical system or battery of first candidate electrified vehicle304 with the electrical system or battery of electric personal transportdevice 300. In some embodiments, an electrified vehicle may providemobile charging to more than one electric personal transport device at atime. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, another electric personaltransport device 400 may also be connected to first candidateelectrified vehicle 304 for mobile charging.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of an example embodiment of an electrifiedvehicle providing mobile charging to electric personal transportdevices. In this embodiment, first candidate electrified vehicle 304 mayprovide mobile charging to electric personal transport device 300 andanother electric personal transport device 400. In an exampleembodiment, an electrified vehicle may include one or more auxiliarycharging ports that are configured to provide mobile charging to theelectric personal transport devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 5,first candidate electrified vehicle 304 may include a first auxiliarycharging port 500 and a second auxiliary charging port 510 along a sideof the vehicle (e.g., integrated within the rocker panels in thisembodiment) that are configured to provide mobile charging to electricpersonal transport device 300 and another electric personal transportdevice 400. In an example embodiment, the auxiliary charging ports ofthe electrified vehicle may be covered while not in use to protectand/or prevent access to the ports. For example, a first cover 502 maybe provided for first auxiliary charging port 500 and a second cover 512may be provided for second auxiliary charging port 510.

In some embodiments, a charging cable may be used to connect theelectrical system or battery of first candidate electrified vehicle 304with the electrical system or battery of the electric personal transportdevices that are being charged via the auxiliary charging ports. In thisembodiment, electric personal transport device 300 is shown with acharging cable 504 that is connected to a charging port 506 of electricpersonal transport device 300 at one end, and which was also connectedto first auxiliary charging port 500 of first candidate electrifiedvehicle 304 at the other end. With this arrangement, mobile charging maybe provided by an electrified vehicle to an electric personal transportdevice.

In some embodiments, the charging cable may be integrated into theelectric personal transport device. For example, charging cable 504 maybe connected to charging port 506 of electric personal transport device300 via a retractable reel or other mechanism to automatically retractand wind up charging cable 504 when it is not in use.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the charging cable may be configuredto automatically detach from the electrified vehicle and retract intothe electric personal transport device upon termination or completion ofcharging. For example, the owner or user of first candidate electrifiedvehicle 304 may notify mobile charging service provider 110 that theuser is returning to first candidate electrified vehicle 304 and mobilecharging should end. In some other cases, mobile charging may end upondetection that the owner or user of first candidate electrified vehicle304 is approaching the vehicle (e.g., based on detecting a phone orother device is within a certain distance of the vehicle). In stillother cases, upon determining that a power level of first candidateelectrified vehicle 304 is below a threshold, charging to electricpersonal transport device 300 may be terminated.

For example, in some embodiments, the threshold may be a certainpercentage of remaining charge (e.g., 10%, 20%, 30%, etc.) that may bepredetermined or may be selectable and/or modifiable by the owner oruser of the electrified vehicle. In addition, in some embodiments,information regarding the remaining available charge of the electrifiedvehicle may be provided to the user, for example, via first userinterface 200, so that the user may determine how much charge to allowfor mobile charging of electric personal transport devices.

Accordingly, in these situations or when charging has completed, firstcandidate electrified vehicle 304 may automatically disconnect chargingcable 504 from first auxiliary charging port 500, for example, using amechanical or magnetic mechanism, and charging cable 504 willautomatically retract back into the body of electric personal transportdevice 300. Charging cable 504 may also be manually disconnected by theuser of first candidate electrified vehicle 304 and/or the user ofelectric personal transport device 300.

In different embodiments, one or more auxiliary charging ports on anelectrified vehicle may be located on or at various places or portionsof the electrified vehicle to facilitate ease of access to mobilecharging for electric personal transport devices. For example, as shownin FIG. 5, first auxiliary charging port 500 and second auxiliarycharging port 510 may be located along a side of first candidateelectrified vehicle 304 (e.g., integrated within the rocker panels).Auxiliary charging ports may be additionally or alternatively locatedelsewhere on the electrified vehicle, including, but not limited to atthe front bumper, rear bumper, at or near the trunk or hood of theelectrified vehicle, or any other location that provides access to anauxiliary charging port to a user of an electric personal transportdevice.

Additionally, in an alternate embodiment, one or more auxiliary chargingports may be provided as separate external components that are connectedto the electrified vehicle but are not directly integrated into thevehicle itself. Referring now to FIG. 6, an alternate embodiment ofauxiliary charging ports for an electrified vehicle providing mobilecharging to a plurality of electric personal transport devices is shown.

In this embodiment, first candidate electrified vehicle 304 may beparked in a parking space 600 with a front end 602 of first candidateelectrified vehicle 304 facing towards a sidewalk or other accessiblearea. With first candidate electrified vehicle 304 parked in parkingspace 600 in this manner, auxiliary charging ports 500, 510 along thesides of first candidate electrified vehicle 304 (as shown in FIG. 5above) would not be easily accessible to a user of an electric personaltransport device for mobile charging.

In this alternate embodiment, a plurality of auxiliary charging ports604 extend out from front end 602 of first candidate electrified vehicle304 onto the sidewalk or other accessible area in front of the vehicle.In this case, plurality of auxiliary charging ports 604 are separateexternal components that are connected to first candidate electrifiedvehicle 304 and provide mobile charging to one or more electric personaltransport devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, plurality ofauxiliary charging ports 604 may provide mobile charging to electricpersonal transport device 300 and another electric personal transportdevice 400 in front of first candidate electrified vehicle 304.

In some embodiments, various types or forms of incentives, credits,and/or promotions may be made available to users of the cooperativeautomotive mobile charging infrastructure to encourage participation.FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an example embodiment of an incentiveprovided to a user of the cooperative automotive mobile charginginfrastructure. In this embodiment, first user interface 200 associatedwith an owner or user of an electrified vehicle (e.g., an owner or userof one of plurality of electrified vehicles 120) is shown. As describedabove, mobile charging service provider 110 may provide various types orforms of incentives, credits, and/or promotions to encourage users toparticipate in the cooperative automotive mobile charginginfrastructure. In particular, owners or users of plurality ofelectrified vehicles 120 may be incentivized to offer their electrifiedvehicles to provide mobile charging to one or more electric personaltransport devices.

As shown in FIG. 7, upon completion of mobile charging, a user of one ofplurality of electrified vehicles 120 may receive a notification onfirst user interface 200 from mobile charging service provider 110informing the user of the incentives received in exchange for providingthe mobile charging. In this embodiment, the notification may include acharging duration field 700 that has information about the time periodor duration that the mobile charging was provided by the user'selectrified vehicle. For example, as shown in this embodiment, the userprovided two hours of mobile charging to another user's electricpersonal transport device.

Additionally, the notification from mobile charging service provider 110may also include an incentive field 702 that includes information aboutthe incentive earned or provided to the user of the electrified vehicle.In this embodiment, incentive field 702 notifies the user that they havereceived 200 credits in exchange for providing the two hours of mobilecharging to another user's electric personal transport device. Indifferent embodiments, the incentives may include one or more ofdiscounts, credits, rewards, and/or free parking provided to the userproviding the mobile charging. In some cases, a user may be both anowner/user of an electrified vehicle as well as an owner/user of anelectric personal transport device. In such cases, the earned creditsmay be used by the user to request and receive mobile charging fromanother user's electrified vehicle on another occasion.

It should be understood that incentives may take a variety of differentforms and may include partnerships with third parties or other vendorsthat are approved or authorized by mobile charging service provider 110.In addition, in some embodiments, owners or users of electric personaltransport devices may be similarly incentivized to participate in thecooperative automotive mobile charging infrastructure. For example,users may receive discounted rates for renting electric personaltransport devices upon completion of charging the electric personaltransport device. In this manner, the cooperative automotive mobilecharging infrastructure may help reduce the costs with providingcharging services to plurality of electric personal transport devices130.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flowchart of an example embodiment of amethod 800 for providing a cooperative automotive mobile charginginfrastructure is illustrated. In an example embodiment, method 800 maybe implemented by mobile charging service provider 110, described above.As shown in FIG. 8, method 800 begins at an operation 802, where anotification is received from one or more first users indicating anavailability for providing mobile charging to electric personaltransport devices. Each notification received includes at least anidentification of an electrified vehicle associated with the first userthat is configured to provide the mobile charging and a location of theelectrified vehicle.

For example, at operation 802, a first user of one of plurality ofelectrified vehicles 120 may provide a notification to mobile chargingservice provider 110 that the first user's electrified vehicle isavailable to provide charging to electric personal transport devices.Additionally, at operation 802, the first user may provide vehicleidentification and location information using first user interface 200,as described above in reference to FIG. 2.

Next, method 800 may include an operation 804. At operation 804, arequest may be received for mobile charging from one or more secondusers. For example, the one or more second users may be owners or usersof one of plurality of electric personal transport devices 130 and therequest may be sent to mobile charging service provider 110 for mobilecharging using second user interface 210, as described above inreference to FIG. 2.

Method 800 may also include an operation 806. At operation 806, for eachrequest, at least one candidate electrified vehicle associated with auser of the one or more first users that is available to provide mobilecharging to the second user is determined. For example, mobile chargingservice provider 110 may use the location information provided by thefirst user (e.g., an owner or user of one of plurality of electrifiedvehicles 120) to determine candidate electrified vehicles that arewithin a predetermined distance from the location of the user of theelectric personal transport device that is requesting mobile charging(i.e., based on the user's location that may be provided using seconduser interface 210, as described above in reference to FIG. 2).

Next, method 800 may include an operation 808 where the location of theat least one candidate electrified vehicle, determined at operation 806,is provided to the requesting second user. The candidate electrifiedvehicle is configured to provide mobile charging at the location to anelectric personal transport device associated with the second user. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 3, mobile charging service provider 110 mayprovide the location of either or both of first candidate electrifiedvehicle 304 and/or second candidate electrified vehicle 306 to the userof electric personal transport device 300 in response to the request formobile charging. The user of electric personal transport device 300 maythen go to the provided location (e.g., a parking space at theintersection of 2^(nd) Street 308 and Parkview Avenue 310) where firstcandidate electrified vehicle 304 is currently located to receive mobilecharging.

Method 800 may end upon sending or providing the location of the atleast one candidate electrified vehicle to the requesting second user.In other embodiments, method 800 may be implemented again for a new oradditional request from the same or different users. In addition, insome embodiments, method 800 may include one or more additional oroptional operations. For example, in some cases, method 800 may includean operation where a notification is received from the user that theuser has finished or completed mobile charging.

In some embodiments, a service provider (e.g., mobile charging serviceprovider 110) may be a third party contractor or other entity thatcooperates with owners or users of electrified vehicles (e.g., pluralityof electrified vehicles 120) and/or owners or users of electric personaltransport devices (e.g., plurality of electric personal transportdevices 130).

While various embodiments have been described, the description isintended to be exemplary, rather than limiting and it will be apparentto those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments andimplementations are possible that are within the scope of the claims.Additionally, one or more of the various embodiments described above maybe combined in part or in whole in accordance with the principlesdescribed herein. Accordingly, the embodiments are not to be restrictedexcept in light of the attached claims and their equivalents. Also,various modifications and changes may be made within the scope of theattached claims.

1. An electrified vehicle for providing mobile charging to an electricpersonal transport device, the electrified vehicle including: at leastone auxiliary charging port in communication with a battery orelectrical system of the electrified vehicle; at least one chargingcable that connects to the at least one auxiliary charging port; andwherein the electrified vehicle provides mobile charging to an electricpersonal transport device at a stationary location by connecting the atleast one charging cable to the at least one auxiliary charging port ofthe electrified vehicle and to a charging port of the electric personaltransport device.
 2. The electrified vehicle according to claim 1,wherein the stationary location is at least one of a parking space, acharging station, or a roadside area.
 3. The electrified vehicleaccording to claim 1, wherein the electrified vehicle is an electricvehicle or a hybrid vehicle.
 4. The electrified vehicle according toclaim 1, wherein the electric personal transport device is an electricscooter, an electric bicycle, or an electric skateboard.
 5. Theelectrified vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the electrifiedvehicle is configured to provide mobile charging at the stationarylocation to two or more electric personal transport devices.
 6. Theelectrified vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the at least oneauxiliary charging port is located along a side of the electrifiedvehicle.
 7. The electrified vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the atleast one auxiliary charging port is integrated within a rocker panel ofthe electrified vehicle.
 8. The electrified vehicle according to claim1, wherein the at least one auxiliary charging port is located at afront bumper of the electrified vehicle.
 9. The electrified vehicleaccording to claim 1, wherein the at least one auxiliary charging portis a separate external component from the electrified vehicle.
 10. Theelectrified vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the at least onecharging cable automatically disconnects from the electrified vehicleupon completion of mobile charging of the electric personal transportdevice.
 11. The electrified vehicle according to claim 1, wherein, upondetermining that an owner of the electrified vehicle is approaching theelectrified vehicle while the electric personal transport device ischarging, the electrified vehicle is configured to automatically endcharging to the electric personal transport device.
 12. The electrifiedvehicle according to claim 11, wherein determining that the owner of theelectrified vehicle is approaching the electrified vehicle while theelectric personal transport device is charging is based on detecting aphone associated with the owner within a certain distance of theelectrified vehicle.
 13. A system for providing a cooperative automotivemobile charging infrastructure, the system comprising: a plurality ofelectrified vehicles, wherein each electrified vehicle of the pluralityof electrified vehicles comprises at least one auxiliary charging portin communication with a battery or electrical system of the electrifiedvehicle and at least one charging cable that connects to the at leastone auxiliary charging port; a plurality of electric personal transportdevices associated with one or more users; and a mobile charging serviceprovider, wherein the mobile charging service provider is configured to:receive a notification sent from a user of one electrified vehicle ofthe plurality of electrified vehicles through a first user interface,the notification indicating an availability for providing mobilecharging to one or more electric personal transport devices of theplurality of electric personal transport devices, wherein thenotification includes at least: (1) an identification of the oneelectrified vehicle to provide the mobile charging, (2) a location ofthe one electrified vehicle, and (3) a time period that the oneelectrified vehicle will remain at the location; receive a request formobile charging sent from a user of an electric transport device of theone or more users of the plurality of electric personal transportdevices through a second user interface that is different from the firstuser interface, wherein the request includes at least: (1) apredetermined distance from a current location of the user of theelectric personal transport device, and (2) a time period for which theuser of the electric personal transport device is requesting mobilecharging; determine, for the request, a candidate electrified vehicle ofthe plurality of electrified vehicles that is available to providemobile charging to the user of the electric personal transport devicewithin the predetermined distance from the current location and for thetime period included in the request; and provide the location of thecandidate electrified vehicle to the user of the electric personaltransport device, wherein the candidate electrified vehicle providesmobile charging at the location to the electric personal transportdevice by connecting the at least one auxiliary charging port of theelectrified vehicle to a charging port of the electric personaltransport device via the at least one charging cable.
 14. The systemaccording to claim 13, wherein the candidate electrified vehicle isconfigured to provide mobile charging at the location to two or moreelectric personal transport devices of the plurality of electricpersonal transport devices.
 15. The system according to claim 13,wherein the at least one auxiliary charging port is located along a sideof the candidate electrified vehicle.
 16. The system according to claim13, wherein the at least one auxiliary charging port is a separateexternal component from the candidate electrified vehicle.
 17. Thesystem according to claim 13, wherein the at least one charging cableautomatically disconnects from the candidate electrified vehicle uponcompletion of mobile charging of the electric personal transport device.18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the at least one chargingcable retracts into the electric personal transport device oncedisconnected.
 19. The system according to claim 13, wherein, upondetermining that an owner of the candidate electrified vehicle isapproaching the candidate electrified vehicle while the electricpersonal transport device is charging, the candidate electrified vehicleis configured to automatically end charging to the electric personaltransport device.
 20. The system according to claim 19, whereindetermining that the owner of the candidate electrified vehicle isapproaching the candidate electrified vehicle while the electricpersonal transport device is charging is based on detecting a phoneassociated with the owner within a certain distance of the candidateelectrified vehicle.